Transcript The Absolute Monarchs of Europe

The Absolute Monarchs
of Europe
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Terms to Know
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Divine Right
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Absolute Monarchy
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A ruler who is part of a ruling family that passes down
power from generation to generation
Balance of Power
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A monarch who has unquestioned, absolute rule and power.
Monarch
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The belief that God chose a ruler to rule.
Countries have equal strength in order to prevent any one
country from dominating the others.
Meet Philip II
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Son of Charles V
Took power after Charles V divided his empire into 5 parts and retired
to a monastery.
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Inherited Spain, Spanish Netherlands, and the American Colonies.
Philip was considered shy, serious, and deeply religious.
Philip’s guarded personality left many people suspicious of him, and he
was equally suspicious of other people.
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His court historian wrote, “His smile and his dagger were very
close.”
Philip II's Empire
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Thanks to the American Colonies, Spain
was becoming very rich.
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Between
and 1650,
Spain had imported
Click to edit1550
Master subtitle
style
339,000 pounds of gold and 16,000 tons of
silver from the Americas.
Free money, thanks to mercantilism!!!
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$$$$$
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HOW MUCH MONEY?
Based on today’s prices, let’s see how much gold and
silver was stolen from the Americas.
This gold and silver was mined by the Native
Americans, who were never paid for their work or
minerals.
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Today, gold is selling at $1388.42/ ounce and silver at $28.43/
ounce
Do the Math……
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GOLD 339,000lb X 16 (oz) = 5,424,000oz X $1388.42
= $7,530,790,080.00
Silver 16,000 tons X 2000 X 16 = 512,000,000oz X
$28.43 = $14,556,160,000
TOTAL = $22,086,950,080.00
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Philips Cut……
The king himself kept between ¼ to 1/5 of every shipload for his
royal share
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$22,086,950,080.00 X .25
So, King Philip II kept about $5,521,737,520.00 worth of gold and
silver.
Since money = power, it was pretty easy to see how Philip
continued to gain more power until he was ultimately considered
Spain’s absolute monarch.
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Phil's Pad
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Philips Palace……
El Escorial
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Defender of Catholicism……
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Philip II took the throne while Europe was experiencing many
religious wars.
• 1571, Philip sent the Spanish Armada to fight against the Ottoman
Empire’s Navy
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Battled against Elizabeth’s Protestant England.
• Didn’t fare as well. His fleet was decimated and Spain’s
power was gone.
Que Lastima!!!
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Philip's Problems
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Spain’s population growing – more people demanded food
and goods, merchants raised prices
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In 1500s, Spain’s expulsion of Jews and Muslims removed
valuable artisans and businesspeople
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Nobles did not have to pay taxes and burden fell on lower
class, middle class never got started
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Guilds raised prices in Spain so Spanish bought from enemies
like England and the Netherlands
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Borrowing from German and Italian bankers forced Philip to
declare bankruptcy three times.
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Spain's King Philip
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•
Use your textbook
and write a brief
paragraph that
summarizes the
Spanish Armada. Be
sure to include the
religious aspects.
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Explain how Spain’s
growing population
affected its economy.
Louis XIV
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His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, lasted seventy-two years, three
months, and eighteen days.
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When he first became king, the true ruler of France was Cardinal Mazarin.
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longest documented reign of any European monarch.
Became ruler when he was only 4
Many nobles hated Mazarin because he increased taxes and strengthened the central
government.
During many of the riots, Louis’ young life was threatened by the upset nobles.
When Cardinal Mazarin died in 1661, the 23 year-old Louis took control of
the government.
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Louis' Follies
•Almost immediately, Louis weakened the power of the
nobles
Louis devoted himself to helping France attain economic,
political, and cultural brilliance.
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His minister of finance, Jean Baptiste Colbert assisted
in achieving these goals.
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French business was booming, until Colbert’s death.
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Louis inadvertently hurt the French economy by
cancelling the Edict of Nantes, which protected the
religious freedom of the Huguenots.
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FANCY PANTS LOUIS
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Louis spent a fortune to surround himself with
luxury.
 Every meal was a feast
• While walking around his palace, he enjoyed
looking at the fountains. However, there
was not enough water pressure to run them
all at once.
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Louis XIV
Don’t try
looking up my
skirt…I gots my
fancy red tights
on
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Is my shirt
tail
hanging
out?
The Palace at Versailles
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Estimated Cost = $ 2
Billion
15,000 Acres of Gardens
1,400 Fountains
Labor to Build
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36,000 Workers
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6,000 Horses
Main Building 500 Yards
Long with 2000 rooms
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The Palace at Versailles
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The Palace at Versailles
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The Palace at Versailles
The Hall of Mirrors
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The Chapel
The Palace at Versailles
The Queen's Bedroom
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The King's Bedroom
The Daily Routine
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Every Morning, the chief valet woke Louis at 7:30
Outside the curtains of his canopy bed stood at least 100 of the
most privileged nobles in France, waiting to help the king dress.
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Only 4 were given the honor of handing him his slippers or
holding his sleeves for him
• Once he was dressed, the lesser nobles waited outside his
bedroom, hoping Louis would notice them.
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Why all the Attention?
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It obviously appealed to Louis’ arrogance.
However, there was an alternative reason that Louis required his
nobles wait on him daily.
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During the feudal times, nobles were very powerful because they had
tremendous freedom to govern as they wished.
By making the nobles stay within the grounds of Versailles, they no
longer had free time to govern.
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With no time to govern, they lost control of their subjects and, thus, lost their
power.
That power over the citizens now belonged to King Louis.
In this sly way, Louis did limit the powers of the nobles, all without
a fight!!!
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Louis
– Smart Guy…Bad Decisions
WAR
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1667- invaded Spanish
Netherlands
1672-invaded Dutch
Netherlands
1680’s- many other minor
wars with small European
countries
1689- Many European
countries joined together to
defeat France. Now, even the
small countries had the
protection of the powerful
nations.
Result
Frequent wars, massive taxation, and
a series of poor harvests brought
great suffering to the French people.
The people were tired of the King
Louis.
When he died in 1715, the people of
France rejoiced
BLOCK PARTY!!!!
Ivan the not so Terrible
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Became ruler when he was only 3.
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The boyars, or nobles, tried to control Ivan when he was young.
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At the age of 16, he claimed the throne and crowned himself czar.
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A Czar is an absolute ruler, taken from the Roman “Caesar”
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Married the beautiful Anastasia
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From 1547 to 1560 were known as Ivan’s good period.
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Won great war victories, passed many good laws, and ruled justly
Ivan Struggles
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In 1560, Anastasia died.
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He accused the boyars of poisoning Anastasia.
He turned against the nobles
• Organized a police force whose job was to hunt down and
murder people he considered traitors
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Ivan had thousands of people murdered.
At the height of “crazy”, he killed his oldest son, who
was the heir to his throne.
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Rise of the Romanov's
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Ivan’s son was both physically and mentally
incapable of ruling over Russia.
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After he died without an heir, Russia went through
the “Time of Troubles” in which many boyars were
fighting for the throne.
Eventually, representatives met and chose
Michael Romanov, grandnephew of Anastasia,
as the next leader.
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Peter the Great
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Peter at first had to share the throne with his
feeble- minded half brother.
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Eventually, Peter became the sole ruler of Russia.
Came to be known as Peter the Great because
he was one of Russia’s greatest leaders and
reformers.
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Russia was different from
Western Europe
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During the beginning of Peter’s reign, Russia
was still stuck in the Middle Ages while the rest
of Europe was evolving.
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Nobles ruled over serfs
Religious differences (the Great Schism) had
separated the Eastern Christianity in Russia from the
Western Christianity in Western Europe.
Peter Visits the West
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1 year after becoming czar, he embarked on the “Grand
Embassy”, a long visit to Western Europe.
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His goal was to learn more about Western Europe’s customs
and industrial techniques.
• On his journey, he insisted on keeping his identity
secret.
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He visited England and Austria before returning home.
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Peter’s Reforms
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Peter was determined to Westernize Russia.
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He wanted to remake Russia using Western ideas and technology.
He knew that many people would refuse, so he increased his power as
an absolute ruler.
He:
Brought the Russian Orthodox Church under state control
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Abolished the office of patriarch, which was head of the church
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Reduced the power of the wealthy landowners.
• In order to gain loyalty, he took power away from the wealthy and gave
that power to lower-ranking families that promised loyalty.
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Hired European military offices to train his soldiers
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Westernizing Russia
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In order to make Russia more like Western Europe,
he:
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Introduced potatoes, which would later become the staple food
of Russia and for making Vodka.
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Started Russia’s 1st newspaper
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Raised women’s status by having them attend social gatherings
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Ordered nobles to give up their traditional clothes for Western
European fashions.
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A New Capital
Peter believed Russia’s future depended on having a warm-water
seaport.
To promote education and growth, Peter wanted a seaport that
would make it easier to travel to the West.
He began building the new capital on the swampy, unhealthy
lands close to the Baltic Sea.
An estimated 25,000 to 100,000 died from disease and poor
working conditions while building St. Petersburg, which is
named after Peter’s patron saint.
When it was finished, he ordered many of the Russian nobles to
leave the comforts of Moscow and relocate to St. Petersburg.
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English Civil War
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Queen Elizabeth I of England left a huge debt
(conflicts with Parliament).
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Her cousin James Stuart (King of Scotland)
took over power and this did not appease
the Puritans. Lucky for the Puritans, he died
in 1625, leaving Charles I in charge.
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However, Charles had his own agenda.
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Charles Factors in...
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When Parliament refused to give money for war with Spain or
France, dissolved Parliament
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Petition of Rights (1628) – Parliament refused money until
Charles I agreed to following:
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Not imprison subjects without due cause
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Not levy taxes without Parliament’s consent
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Not house soldiers in private homes
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Not impose martial law in peacetime
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Charles refused to follow
Heads are Rolling
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Parliament passed laws to limit royal power and Charles tried to
arrest Parliament members
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Loyalists were Royalists v. Puritan supporters of Parliament
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In 1644, Oliver Cromwell led Puritans to victory
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Cromwell tried Charles I for treason and executed him
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Abolished monarchy and House of Lords
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Established republican government
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Military dictator
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Cromwell and Puritans wanted to reform society
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Religious toleration except for Catholics
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Restoration of Charles
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Cromwell government
collapsed and new
Parliament in power
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Habeas corpus – gave
every prisoner right to
obtain a writ or
document
opportunity to see
judge and seek trial by
jury – monarchy could
not just put someone
in jail
William and Mary
James’ daughter Mary was
Protestant and wife of William
of Orange – overthrew James II
– bloodless overthrow called
Glorious Revolution
William and Mary – agreed to
constitutional monarchy
Bill of Rights (1689)
No levying taxes without specific
grants from Parliament
No penalty for a citizen who
petitions king about grievances
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